As you all must have already surmised (after my typical stroke of
technological incompetence last week -- sorry to all concerned for
publicizing to everyone what I thought I was just saying to Anthony -- one
of the problems with not setting up a separate network file, but then, if
I were the kind of person who did set up that kind of file I be the kind
of person who wouldn't have made that kind of mistake anyway), I have been
lurking on CASLL nigh these many months -- and it has taken Parizeau & co
to smoke me out.
Anthony, I guess the difference in our ethnic histories sensitized
my attenae to that difference that you perceived in Levesque vs the
present crew quite a while ago. The racism scares me -- but doesn't
surprise me. They are tapping into something with a long history in
Quebec, and with a dirtier history than in the rest of Canada -- although
that is a kind of competition that is not worth dwelling on.
My positive take on last night, and especially Parizeau's speech
and the responses, was that maybe he had gone too far, that he had burst
the boil of racism that had developed and exposed its putrid smell to all
his confreres (and consoeurs?). And Bouchard has carefully distanced
himself from that.
My negative take (and I always have one on hand, along with my
packed suitcase under the bed) is that, with Bouchard, we have a far more
clever nationalist, whose "white races" speech not only betrayed his
feelings but actually drew on those of the Quebecois in a way that they
could find respectable and palateable.
My only hope is that he is going to accept the PQ leadership and
actually be forced to do some governing before another referendum.
And finally, I don't know about the rest of you, but I was quite
overwhelmed by the outpourings last week: I have been telling Pete for
years now that Canadians really do have very deep, if unarticulated
feelings about Canada (and that we probably feel they should generally
remain unarticulated for very sound reasons), but even I was taken aback
by the groundswell I heard and felt from people around me who are normally
staid, self-deprecatory, etc.
If nothing more, it seemed to confirm to me that we would have
something real left, even if Quebec were to separate messily (and is there
any other way).
Aviva
